recent visit to Bucks County

[rainrock]

Originally Posted by passdoubt

No way. The boroughs of Newtown, Yardley, Doylestown, New Hope, etc are all much, much older than Levittown (and most of Bristol). They were settled before the 1800s and most of their housing stock is of historic vintage.

Bristol Borough dates back to 1720, cant get much older than that. Penndel dates back to 1800's. Levittown you are on target.

[HI2PA]

CMOW, did you have a chance to look at the suburbs WEST of Philly?

[drich92]

You may want to check out Eastern Montgomery County as well as Bucks. Central Bucks and Eastern Montco are the best areas. Horsham Township is good and schools are excellent. The amount of shopping is huge including the new Wegmans which is reason to relocate alone.

[braylee]

if you were looking in Bristol, levittown and in that area, it is dingy and icky. I would never move there. However if you look more around Newtown, doylestown and even further north you will find nice areas. However it is quite expensive considering what you get for your $

[john215]

CMOW
The legendary Bucks County in the magazines is north of where you looked- check out Solebury and Tinicum Townships, along the Delaware. As a recent transplant here, and very familiar with No and So CA, you will find country charm here you can not find on the West Coast. I live in Solebury, on the river just five minutes from New Hope and artsy Lambertville (NJ), and twenty minutes from Doylestown (a wonderful small city). Be prepared to pay up, but since you are from CA, it will seem cheap by comparison. This is a weekend holiday destination for people from out of the area. Many B&Bs, interesting restaurants, art galleries, and a very accepting odd ball culture like S.F. For example, New Hope is a touristy place, and an "official trans-gender city". Mr and Miss Gay PA contests are held there.

Come. You will love living here.

[NewHopePA]

Originally Posted by cmow

We are considering a move to Bucks from Northern California and we visited Bucks right after Thanksgiving. It wasn't what I expected at all and I'm not really sure what I expected. I didn't come away with a great feeling or horrible feeling. Just unsure of what I thought. It seemed very old and dingy there (please don't take offense). Maybe that's because everything is fairly new where we live and that we were visiting in the beginning of winter. I think we need to spend more time there.

I was wondering if there is anyone who moved to Bucks County from another area who can share their thoughts on living there? If you can please share your experiences/information on the schools there.

Thanks for the help. Merry Christmas!

Hello! Understandable, as Northern CA is lovely, however I think you would find the following areas of Bucks County the perfect balance of bucolic and upbeat/hip...my suggestion is to check out New Hope (Solebury Township), Newtown or Doylestown, as they all have lively downtown areas with a mix of local shops, restaurant and chain stores as well as beautiful preserved open spaces.

I live in a newer (my home is 6 years old) 200 SF home development that is walking distance to downtown New Hope on the Delaware River and also connects to North Pointe Park (104 acres of open space). In addition, across the street is Giant/Staples/CVS Pharmacy/Radio Shack, etc. Home Depot, Borders, Kohl's, etc. is 10 minutes from here in Flemington, NJ (along with other big chain stores) and Target/Wegmans/Lowes, etc. is 20 minutes away in Warrington. Lastly Princeton, NJ is 30 minutes from New Hope, which is another great town with LOTS of shopping and a pluthera of jobs.

I have actually been avoiding a move to relocate for my husband's job, because I really love it here. New Hope/Solebury, Central Bucks (Doylestown) and Council Rock (Newtown) are rated 10/10 on greatschools.net - hard to beat them. It looks like we will most likely be moving, though, so you may see my house listed this Spring. If you would like to e-mail me, I would be happy to give you more details about my home (4br/2.5 bath, backs to woods/stream/preserve). Best wishes in your relo search!

[Alexia319]

Bucks County is so diverse - every area is completely different, and you can't really hope to take it in with such a brief visit. If I were you, I wouldn't consider moving without a lot more personal experience of the place. I say this as someone who made a disastrous move (away from Bucks) and am reaping the results of not having had enough information.

I will say that the overall flavor of Bucks County is still colonial and quaint, with a large stock of very pretty old houses. If you really dislike old things, you may not take to it. There are many developments with every imaginable kind of new house, and the amenities are wonderful - great restaurants, every kind of shopping, cultural sites, theater - all very nearby no matter where you are in Bucks County. You haven't seen Bucks at all if you've missed New Hope, Newtown, Yardley, Peddler's Village, and the achingly beautiful drive along the Delaware from Washington's Crossing up to Upper Black Eddy. I encourage you to return, in the spring if you can.

[lookin'for"home"]

Not sure *where* you were...... but I think you need to stick to Doylestown.
If you don't want rural, you don't want upper Bucks.... or New Hope/Solebury and please -stay out of Carversville. It's old and inconvenient.
You want Central Bucks- West and South. Wegmans is on 611 in Warrington- south side of Doylestown. Montgomery County is good, too- especially if you don't want to travel more than 15 minutes to get to every chain stores and about a dozen different parks- look at Hatboro/Horsham.
Solebury is beautiful but it's when those who move in that need every good within 5 miles that they ruin the landscape because they become road hogs and frustrated in public-stores and restaurants- and tend to destroy the peaceful atmosphere that New Hope/Solebury the rest of us used to enjoy.
JMHO